Sarah Palin showed up on last night’s The Tonight Show, and I wouldn’t ask you to actually watch the entire clip because it’s not that funny. What is remarkable about it is that Fallon manages to rub away Palin’s hard edges, and make her more palatable to an otherwise hostile audience. That is to say, save for the hokey Mamma Grizzly line, the bit — which saw Sarah Palin having a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin (played by Fallon) — didn’t bug me, and there’s a sense of self awareness in Palin that was occasionally even amusing. Almost, anyway.

Really, though, it’s just affection by association. This is Fallon doing what Fallon does best: Appealing to everyone.

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